Public Whip Count

February 19, 2010

Posted by: Chris

Gay pop legend Elton John tells Parade magazine in an interview that he believes Jesus was "a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems." In the online interview, Elton also tells of meeting and falling in love with husband David Furnish, and his help in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Explaining his view on Jesus Christ, John said, "On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead."

Elton said he was "attracted to David immediately. He was very well dressed, very shy. The next night we had dinner. After it, we consummated our relationship. We fell in love very quickly."

To keep the romance going, the couple has sent each other a card every Saturday for 16 years, "to say how much we love each other. We've never been jealous. We talk about the sexual side of things, things that normally would have frightened me before."

February 10, 2010

Posted by: Chris

Just two years after Snickers enraged the great gay masses with an off-color Super Bowl commercial that poked fun at accidental man on man smooches, the M&M Mars folks have apparently switched to an ad agency with their gaydar fully intact. How else to explain the Betty White ad that ran during the big game this year?

Or better yet, the Road Trip commercial that packs its biggest wallop in the last two of its mere 30 seconds.

For you Betty White fans -- and I am one for her "Mary Tyler Moore" days more than her "Golden Girls" run -- there is even a Facebook movement of more than 100,000 strong to draft her to host "Saturday Night Live." Not bad for 88 years young.

For a trip down memory lane, the four alternate versions of the 2007 Snickers man-kiss ad follow after the jump (update, apparently Mars pulled the earlier Snickers ads from YouTube):

December 29, 2009

Posted by: Chris

Here's a 2009 year-in-review story you probably missed. Back in September, the lead singer of Korea's most popular boyband was forced out of the group for questioning the sexual orientation of the whole friggin country:

Boy band 2PM’s career was at its peak this year because of their
song “Again and Again;” that is, until a scandal broke in a matter of
days that forced its leader, Jaebum, to leave the group. The controversy started when netizens found “anti-Korean” comments
he wrote on his MySpace account before his debut in the Korean music
scene.

“Korea is gay. I hate Koreans,” wrote Jaebum, a Korean-American, who left his family in the US to start his career in Korea. The controversy spread like wildfire and in a matter of days, Jaebum
announced that he would be leaving 2PM and Korea for good. Since then,
his fans have been campaigning to bring him back.

Yes, I know he meant "gay" in the juvenile sense of being "stupid" -- an insult that topped the charts in the U.K. this year. The supposed slam also seems a bit pot calling the kettle black coming from a dolled-up boy bander. (Same goes for you Brit-boy bullies, too.)

Still, it was amusingly depressing that the resulting firestorm focused entirely on his slam against Korea, not against the gays. (Not that there's anything wrong with Koreans, mind you.)

December 16, 2008

Posted by: Chris

That's "cats and dogs," for you non-Brazilianizers. Like poor Madonna, for example, performing Monday night in Rio's massive Maracanã stadium, built for last year's Pan Am Games. About 30 seconds into this video, our dear Madge performs some on-stage maneuvers that were definitely not choreographed.

Even so, she recovers mighty damn well for someone past the half-century mark. I imagine vogueing could be a real bitch after hip-replacement...

August 12, 2008

Posted by: Chris

It's been interesting to view the Olympics through the lens of my country of exile. Like back home, the broadcast network here (O Globo) is all-Brazil almost all the time -- even though the country's medal total thus far has been a few bronzes in judo and swimming. (That judo is fun to watch, I will admit!)

It's also been fun to watch the host country get the special treatment that only the international press knows how to dish out. I remember like it was yesterday how frustrating it was to live in Atlanta in the build-up to the '96 Games, which were absolutely incredible despite the (anti-gay, in part, as it turns out) park bombing. Every logistical error was magnified, while the 99.9% that functioned as well or better than expected was ignored.

China, of course, richly deserves much of the black eye it's getting in coverage, for its disregard for even basic human rights and its state control over everything down the smallest detail -- literally. Even the tiny girl (pictured above, right) who wowed an international viewing audience during the opening ceremonies was a fake -- lip syncing the voice of another little girl (pictured above, left).

"The reason was for the national interest," said Chen Qigang, the
ceremony's musical director, in a state radio interview. "The child on
camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression.
... Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects."

The decision was made at the highest levels, Chen said.

"We had to do it," he said. "We'd been through several inspections.
They're all very strict. When we rehearsed at the spot, there were
several spectators from various divisions, especially leaders from the
Politburo, who gave the opinion it must change."

As with much of state-control, this high-level decision ended up a complete mess, accomplishing the exact opposite of what was intended. If only China's dictators would catch a hint…

October 29, 2007

Posted by: Chris

"I think if you legalize [gay marriage], you've got to legalize some other things
that are pretty unsavory. You can call me a radical, but how
can you tell an aunt that she can't marry her nephew if they are really
in love and sharing the bills? How can you tell them they can't get
married, but something else that's unnatural can happen?"-- Country singer John Rich of the duo Big & Rich

Ahh yes. The old incest bluff. Maybe John and his kin can't think of any difference between gay marriage and incestuous marriages, but I'm sure the rest of us -- including even Rich's idol Fred Thompson -- can. Here's a tip: genetics.

Rich goes on to boast that, "One reason why we are able to be so untethered in country music is
because we have a really strong base and strong beliefs and core values." Yeah, but what about his own reputation as a womanizer? "I'm probably somewhat of a walking dichotomy, I guess."

August 26, 2007

Posted by: Chris

I arrived in Atlanta last night and was surprised by my good friend and colleague Steve Koval with tickets for an concert that would have filled a stadium — in 1983. Styx, Foreigner and Def Leppard, all together, for the "Rock of Ages" tour. They did not disappoint.

Everyone has music that defines a period of their lives. For me, the Beatles saved me from the country music of my native region, and introduced me to Billy Joel later on. But as I entered high school, I caught the rock-n-roll bug, at least until all those hair bands ruined things. Styx, for me, defines high school.

In 1981, when Styx announced its Paradise Theater tour, I convinced my parents to let me go, even though I'd never before been to a concert. Then they announced their Memphis date, in the middle of my family's sacred two-week vacation. I was a good kid — "The Best Little Boy in the World" in fact — but the prospect of missing my teen idols was too much. I pitched a bitch of epic proportions, over a period of days, until my parents relented.

That concert was among the best I've ever seen, and I caught the band again in 1996 for its Return to Paradise tour. They were playing Chastain, also here in Atlanta, and Dennis DeYoung's melodic work was perfect for the setting. But since the park is known for its wine-and-cheese set and yuppie neighbors, it wasn't exactly rock-n-roll.

Not so this time around. The venue was Lakewood, south of Atlanta and in redneck territory. DeYoung long since left the band so it was Tommy Shaw and James "J.Y." Young leading the show. They stuck to the straight-ahead rock numbers, and my throat is still hoarse from singing along. We were even treated to a special appearance by original bassist Chuck Panozzo, who came out as gay and HIV-positive a few years back.

Here's a quick taste, Styx caught live by someone in Charlotte a few days ago. I wish I had my camera last night because we had much better seats.

I'll admit I was bit miffed that Styx was opening for Def Leppard. There's no comparison between Styx's art-rock musicality and Def Leppard's head-banging. (I could understand why Foreigner led things off, since only Mick Jones of the original line-up was there. Still, they were fantastic.) Then, looking around me, I could see it was a Def Leppard crowd.

Leppard has always been a concert band, and its fans are much more concert-going types than the Styx set. I wish Styx had more time on-stage since every other Leppard song was a snoozer, but when they were on, Def Leppard was a blast.

Soon afterwards, they adopted the name "Deaf Leopard" (which Elliott had thought of in his school days). At the suggestion of Tony Kenning, the name "Deaf Leopard" was slightly modified to Def Leppard in order to avoid comparison to punk bands, and perhaps also as an indirect homage to Led Zeppelin's similarly styled band name.

Elliott: That's the intro to "Rock Of Ages." It's Mutt Lange. There were no guitars in the verses, just drums. So instead of counting off one, two, three, four, he'd say these ridiculous things to make everybody laugh. One of them was "chapatti puppadum something something," all about Indian food. The other one was "Gunter glieben glauchen globen." Some German guy sent a letter to our Artist Pages and said that it's German for "running through the forest silently." I'm assured it isn't. This guy must have just escaped from the happy house or something.

August 11, 2007

Posted by: Chris

Remember back a couple of years ago when rapper Kanye West came out against anti-gay lyrics in hip hop? He said being called a mama's boy when he was younger caused him to become homophobic. "'Cause it’s like I would go back and question myself," he said back then.

Well it looks like admitting he had a problem wasn't the first step for Kanye West ridding himself of homophobia.

Responding to a tough-guy rapper who called him gay, West's response is old school. "I'm not gangsta, but I'm not gay either. Don't disrespect me as a fuckin' man."

Grow a pair, Kanye. Real men are secure enough in their sexual orientation that being called gay isn't a threat to their manhood.

August 02, 2007

Posted by: Chris

Victor Willis, the troubled ex-frontman for the Village People, is
mounting a comeback with a tell-all book detailing his frustration with
his flamboyant gay bandmates and why they ultimately caused him to
leave the group in the early '80s.

Willis, best-known for portraying
the cop and the naval admiral in the '70s disco group, also reveals
"Y.M.C.A." was never meant to refer to gay cruising, says his publicist
Alice Wolf. Wolf says the group was on tour when Willis wrote the
lyrics at the behest of the band's French producer, Jacques Morali, who
wrote the music. But Willis never intended the homosexual innuendo that
many fans read into the song.

"Victor Willis wrote about the YMCA and
having fun there, but the type of fun he was talking about was straight
fun," insists Wolf, adding that Willis has nothing against
homosexuality. "When he says, 'Hang out with all the boys'... he's
talking about the boys, the fellas.... But it's one of those ambiguous
songs that was taken that way because of the gay association with
Village People."

Riiiight. So how does he explain writing the lyrics for "In the Navy," "Go West" and (ahem!) "Macho Man"? Someone's Freudian (pink) slip is showing.

November 16, 2006

Posted by: Chris

He's white, he raps and he's a big ole queen. Cazwell takes the homoerotic split-personality of Eminem Slim Shady and crosses line the line that the more famous white rapper is always dancing around.

Yeah it's a bit K-Fed cheesy, and more than a little bit raunchy, but it's also a lot of fun — if nothing else but to see one our bruthas throwin down.

From an interview this week with the Charlotte Observer:

Q. What do you think about being called the gay rapper? I don't think of myself as the gay rapper. Some people say that, but that makes it sound like there's only one.

Q. Who's your favorite rapper? Biggie Smalls is most definitely my favorite and the greatest influence. I love Missy (Elliott) so much. She's a huge inspiration. She did it with her brain. She's so creative. She's so self-made.

Q. Do you consider yourself to be a hip-hop artist? I don't see myself as hip-hop. I don't live the hip-hop lifestyle. If you're gay, you really can't roll with a hip-hop crew. I accept that. Rather than try to fit into the hip-hop mold, I try to do what I want to do. If I lived my life by the rules of hip-hop, then I couldn't be out. I'd rather create my own sound and space. …

Q. Anyone ever tell you that you look like Eminem? No. I get Justin Timberlake.

October 27, 2006

Posted by: Chris

And now for something completely different… After all, life is about more than politics — even for a junkie like me. In fact, one of the great discoveries about myself that I credit entirely with accepting my sexual orientation is, drum roll please, that I love to dance.

Not exactly profound, you say? Then my guess is you don't share my passion for the dance floor. I've always loved all kinds of music, but the disco years weren't kind to my adolescence. I still remember with a mental grimace trying out my best John Travolta moves in 7th grade, only to earn stares from my classmates in Germantown, Tenn. I guess a gawky blond couldn't channel a suave Italian-American, though he and I apparently do have some things in common.

Fast-forward almost a quarter-century, and I've come to see the club scene — done right — as a treasured cathartic, tribal and just plain enjoyable way to spend an evening. "I take my problems to the dance floor," and when I hear Inaya Day belt out lines like that, I just can't help following her from the sidelines and into the action.

Unfortunately, the scourge of crystal methamphetamine (a.k.a. "Tina") has almost ruined the party scene in the U.S. We saw it happen close up in Washington, D.C., where the big weekly gay dance party, Velvet Nation, fell victim first to a changing scene and second to the construction of a new Major League Baseball stadium.

DJ Ed Bailey — who went to Vanderbilt University the same time I did — was the music man behind Velvet Nation's success, and he described the downward spiral much more eloquently than I can, in an interview with MetroWeekly:

It was always about the music and everyone coming together to be inspired by the music. There's something about that that's kind of tribal. That was intoxicating to me. … [Then] in the middle of this run at Nation, it got a little stale where I wasn't feeling it for a few years, where I thought the music became too dark. A lot of things have happened in our industry that have, I think, aided in [dance music's] decline — and the drug use is a big part of it. Whether the music is a reflection of the drug use or whether it's just a trend, the music just seems to be darker and deeper and scarier. It sounds meaner. It's not the happy, ''put your hands in the air'' kind of music of the '90s. …

By the time a song gets to a club, the music has been chopped up, sectioned off and partitioned into this or that, so that a lot of the musical quality has been lost. And that's unfortunate. I think it detracts from the overall spiritual experience. I know it sounds corny for me to say that, but I really believe it. When all you hear is thump, thump, thump all night where you used to hear a lot of vocals and pianos and happiness, it changes the environment.

Amen, Brother Ed! Fortunately, crystal meth hasn't infiltrated everywhere, and dance music that sounds like music still survives and thrives in Europe and Latin America. It's been a major upside to my self-imposed semi-exile in Brazil that I've been able to enjoy the scene there (actually here, as I write this). And no club I've been anywhere — in the U.S., Europe or anywhere else — can showcase the dance scene better than The Week in São Paulo, as I described in a feature article for the Washington Blade.

October 17, 2006

Posted by: Chris

It's great to see how hip hop has matured to the point that it's not so much about macho posing to embrace its gay fans. In an interview with Blender magazine where the readers ask the questions, hip hop's top producer Timbaland, was queried about his new single with Justin Timberlake, "SexyBack," in which Timbaland raps to Justin in the chorus: "Go 'head child and get your sexy on."

"I love the song," wrote in a reader from St. Paul, Minn., "but didn't you feel a bit weird telling Justin to 'get his sexy on'?" Timbaland answered:

Not at all. Some people listen to a song like 'SexyBack' and think, am I queer? Am I funny? If you are that way, you're just that way. But if you're a masculine man, embrace it. Have a glass of wine, put the record on, invite your girl over — get sexy. 'Cause you might get some drawers off. Trust me — I know what I'm talking about.

Yeah yeah, I know. Timbaland acts like being gay means you're a flamer and being straight means you're masculine. But aside from that (not so) small point, I'm impressed that he wasn't defensive about the issue and what people might think about his duet with Justin.